Playing at war, elders of central Turkey
preserve the game of cirit, a galloping
exchange of blunt lances enjoyed by the
Seljuks around the time of the Crusades.
In a village near Kayseri, a tearful six
year-old boy is showered with lira and
words of encouragement to prepare him
for the Muslim rite of circumcision.
opponent, whether Turk or Arab, ever
willingly faced the shattering charge of
the crusaders' heavy cavalry.
But the crusaders' real foe was the
desolate, hostile expanse of the Turkish
hinterland. As the Turks fell back, they
blocked wells and destroyed crops. The
host found itself marching through a
wasteland in the heat of summer.
"We suffered greatly from hunger
and thirst," recorded one knight,
"and found nothing at all to eat except
prickly plants which we gathered and
rubbed between our hands. On such
food we survived wretchedly enough,
but we lost most of our horses, so that
many of our knights had to go on as foot
soldiers . . ."
Irrigation has converted much of
Turkey's desert regions to rolling wheat
fields, and Sarah and I found the Turk
ish code of hospitality flourishing in
every village. Our horses were always
fed and watered, and we were invariably
quartered in the headman's own home
or the village guesthouse.
"Why are you making such a difficult
journey?" was the standard question.
Our answer was easy for Muslim villag
ers to grasp: "We are making a hajj to
the holy city of Jerusalem."
Just beyond the town of Kayseri we
turned southeast to cross the Anti
Taurus Mountains.
The crusaders passed this way in
autumn 1097. Winter was coming on,
and after more than a year on the road
there was no immediate prospect of
reaching Jerusalem. What drove them
onward? Greed for plunder, as many
have charged? Dream of empire? Nei
ther had much relevance in those raw
mountains. What kept the crusaders
going, planting one foot wearily in front
of the other, had to be faith.
F RIDAY, JUNE 17, brought the
lowest ebb of our journey; on
that day we lost Mystery. For
nearly the entire journey from
Belgium she had led the way, and now,
outside the Turkish city of Antakya
the Antioch of old-she developed a
virulent and unidentified ailment that
National Geographic, September 1989